Apple confess that some iPhone 6S handsets are rubbish

Not all iPhones are the same. In fact, some are crappier than the rest, and Apple have confessed this is the case, which is why some iPhone 6S models have a shorter battery life than others. Why? Well, it is something to do with processors being made by two different chip makers.

Apple said that handsets using TSMC-built 16nm A9 processors will have a longer battery life than those powered by Samsung-built 14nm A9 CPUs. One good thing, according to Apple themselves, is that the difference is smaller than suggested.

If you're really bothered about the difference between 2nm units, then there's a tool you can use to see if you have a TSMC or a Samsung-built chip in your phone. Get at it here.

"Our testing and customer data show the actual battery life of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, even taking into account variable component differences, varies within just 2-3 per cent of each other," said an Apple spokesperson.

However, while Apple are playing it down, independent tests have shown that the difference between the two could be as big as 7%. You'd notice that, even if it does seem small. That said, Apple are still palming it off, saying that the tests undertaken by others aren't relevant.

"Certain manufactured lab tests which run the processors with a continuous heavy workload until the battery depletes are not representative of real-world usage, since they spend an unrealistic amount of time at the highest CPU performance state," said Apple. "It's a misleading way to measure real-world battery life."

Shout out to the conspiracy theorists who read this and thought that Samsung are messing around with one of their rivals, trying to make their phones less good.

1 comment

bill

I think this is more common than customers are led to believe. Probably every model of phone has some with different chipsets etc, it's just consumers seem to make more of a fuss about the Apple products. I recall that some iphone 4 with the more modern chipset are unable to downgrade firmware as chip can burn the chip out. And also some wifi chips have been known to overheat with too internet tabs open etc. They vary from batch to batch.